Kimco Realty: Bringing a Community Back Together

Through 2022 we have been so fortunate to work with nationwide retail real estate developer Kimco Realty activating nearly a dozen of their community retail centers in the D.C. and Baltimore areas. From marquee events to weekly engagement programming, increasing local activity to make each center a true destination has been one of our favorite projects this year.

Kimco is a client whose focus is on the communities their tenants, customers and staff call home.

In early 2022 we began building a calendar for multiple shopping centers to create opportunities to bring the community together for the entirety of the year. We set about doing a deep study on the demographics around the centers we were set to activate. We took stock of census data and the makeup of each community along with in-depth interviews with tenant businesses. Through this research, we were able to design a community-specific engagement calendar for each of the different centers to best achieve the client's goals. Once we strategically identified the best way to engage with communities and deepen their relationship with each center, we scheduled a robust calendar of nearly 60 total events to take place over the course of the year. By the spring it was off to the races!

Throughout the summer and into the fall, we have been busy planning various community activations for seven of the retail giant's shopping centers. Through the lazy haze of summer heat, the cheerful sound of music at a Kimco-sponsored summer concert can be heard from across the parking lot on Saturday afternoon at one of their many shopping centers. Children dancing with melting ice cream cones in their hands, their parents watching from the shade. After two years of COVID, the realty group finally brought back the long-awaited summer concert series. Each Saturday, up to four concerts would be live at a Kimco shopping center, bringing back popular bands from years past and introducing new talent into the mix. It is fair to say this year's concert series came back with a bang!

We didn't stop there, this year we were excited to also introduce movie nights. These pop-up family movie nights were produced in these shopping centers every Friday night throughout the summer, giving families the perfect outing to create memories together.

For the client, it was imperative that the whole community could be a part of these events being held in their own backyards. Stores in the centers got involved in our weekly raffles, and their incredible prizes kept the competition lively while local food trucks were brought to each center to feed the concert crowds.

The summer wrapped up with the Kentland Art Walk – an art festival in which local artists were invited to show off their crafts to their community! About a dozen local artists set up booths displaying their work, from paintings to glass blowing and even artisanal soaps. Chalk was available for the littlest of the artists to showcase their talents on the sidewalks of the shopping center.

These events were simple in concept but complex in execution with a big impact. Luckily for us, and for these Kimco communities, we aren't done yet -- 2022 still has more events to come!

The upcoming Kentlands Market Square Fall Festival is a day out for the whole family - with live music, food trucks with hot freshly made donuts, a hot chocolate truck, pumpkin painting and even a pet costume contest! Multiple activations running simultaneously across this shopping center means you don't have to go too far to find the fun. Pumpkins, haybales and cornstalks subtly bring the whole affair a seasonal feel!

The Holiday Kick-Off is the start of the Kimco Holiday Season, taking place on Black Friday. The crowds can take a break from shopping by visiting with Santa, listening to our carolers or at the crafts stations for the kids. As always, no event is complete without the perfect menu - hot festive beverages and holiday treats coming right up! We are also taking the natural audience that Black Friday will give us to launch the Kimco "Miracle on Market Street," a month-long shopping scavenger hunt in partnership with local businesses.

We hope to see you out of one of Kimco's centers very soon!